About

Kickstarter Gold: Chineasy Tiles - Play to Learn Chinese

£63,650

pledged of £20,000 goal

720

backers

Many say learning Chinese is hard. We disagree. Chineasy really does make learning Chinese easy and it’s a ton of fun! Chineasy helps everyone recognize characters through quirky, memorable pictures with the mission to bridge the gap between the East and the West. Chineasy's simple visual approach is underscored by a rigorous educational methodology.

Chinese characters are like building blocks - they can be combined in different ways. Chineasy Tiles are designed to be moved around. Pick them up and sit them next to each other. It’s the hands-on way to learn about combining words, and the easy way to extend your Chinese vocabulary.

When you play Chineasy Tiles, you're learning key Chinese language skills, including recognizing characters, combining words into phrases and using characters in sentences. You're developing the foundations of the Chinese language.

Specially designed illustrations help show the meaning and context of each character. The master board shows the characters without pictures and helps reinforce pronunciation.

The 48 essential high-frequency characters can be combined to make more than 200 words and phrases. But don’t stop there! There’s endless scope to expand your Chinese vocabulary.

*Suitable for ages 3 & up. Chineasy Tiles meets the international safety requirements for toys, including US (ASTM F963) and EU (CE) standards.

Playful learning doesn’t mean playing the same game again and again. Chineasy Tiles is designed to allow you to create new ways of playing and learning. Through rigorous user testing in classrooms and homes, learners with different levels of Chinese proficiency can all experience Chinese in brand new ways.

We’ve devised more than a dozen ways to play with the tiles, including Bingo, Connect-the-tiles, Bundle Up, Storytelling, plus many more. Come up with your own new ways to play and share your ideas with the Chineasy community!

Don't worry, you don't need to speak Chinese to help children get the best from Chineasy Tiles. We're here to help. We provide a parents' guide, a video tutorial and online support. Along with thousands of other families, join the Chineasy community on this exciting journey to learn Chinese!

Over the past year, we have worked with teachers from around the world who specialize in teaching different grades and levels of Chinese language learning. We saw for ourselves that Chineasy Tiles suits many different curriculum and classroom needs.

We've developed comprehensive play guides designed for parents, teachers, and individual players. Even better, we're giving them to you for FREE!

The guides include 12 different ways to play Chineasy Tiles Tips on how to reinforce certain skills designed for each game Notes about specific skill sets taught in each game Everyone can enjoy Chineasy Tiles. Each game has been designed with two levels - for beginners and more advanced learners. We can't wait for you to take Chineasy Tiles to the next level. Make it your own unique tool and learn Chinese!

Chineasy Tiles is a brilliant tool for learners of all ages and levels, from beginners to advanced learners and even native speakers. How do we know? We road-tested Chineasy Tiles around the world, on MIT professors, parents, and leading Chinese educators from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the UK and the US. And, of course, we asked the learners themselves, who were aged between 3 and 86 years-old. They all loved playing Chineasy Tiles!

Chineasy Tiles introduces key learning elements and developmental skill sets for every stage of learning, from beginners to native speakers.

Learning has never been so easy. You’ll have so much fun you won’t even notice that you’re learning Chinese. Before you know it, you’ll be able to read and understand lots of different characters.

The sky's the limit when it comes to ways to play Chineasy Tiles!

Chineasy is a groundbreaking method to make reading and speaking Chinese enjoyable and easy. Chineasy founder and creator, ShaoLan, developed the approach to inspire her British-born children to learn Chinese. To help work out the list of essential Chinese words, ShaoLan created a special algorithm and combed through thousands of Chinese characters.

Our award-winning design unlocks the Chinese language. Characters have been transformed from difficult and cryptic black shapes to easy-to-understand pictograms.

With similar methodology and to go beyond reading and writing, ShaoLan created Talk Chineasy to help people learn to speak Chinese easily. You'll enjoy listening to each 7-minute daily Chinese podcast lesson. Each day ShaoLan and a special guest share interesting cultural insights and stories as they teach you a useful Chinese phrase.

In our last campaign, with the support of everyone from the Kickstarter community, we brought you the book, Chineasy: The New Way to Read Chinese by ShaoLan. Today, our program of publications is translated into 19 languages. Around the world, Chineasy helps people learn Chinese and appreciate the beauty of the Chinese language and culture. We are thrilled to be invited back to Kickstarter Gold to bring you our latest innovation.

Research proves that the "play to learn" approach works, especially when developing skills to learn a new language. Chineasy Tiles is about palying games and having fun, not learning by rote. Across the globe, it's been tested in homes with families and in classrooms with teachers. All agree, Chineasy Tiles is the entertaining - and often full-of-laughter - way to learn Chinese.

Chineasy is highly recommended by educators, parents, and Chinese learners from all over the world. We really appreciate this praise and feedback.

Chineasy Tiles has been created with love. We didn’t dream it up overnight. It has been rigorously tested in classrooms and homes to ensure it is easy-to-play, fun and inspires Chinese language-learning, even if you can’t speak any Chinese! Our greatest inspiration has been parents, teachers and Chinese learners.

Chineasy is committed to being innovative and inspirational about Chinese language-learning. We're a small, highly energetic team located around the world in London, Boston, and Taipei.

Chineasy is honored to be mentored and supported by world-renowned pundits.

We’re thrilled to launch this project and happy you will be joining us on our journey.

Here are several videos, which help you learn more about Chineasy and our mission to bridge the gap between the East and the West.

Story of Chinese Zodiac Chineasy culture is full of stories, here's an example from the Great Race of the Zodiacs that determines the order of the animals!

Take a look at our rewards

We Love Chineasy Sticker set

Eight uniquely designed large stickers made of durable vinyl to ensure that your love for Chineasy remains bright no matter rain or shine!

Chineasy Iconic Magnet set

Coming soon! Excuse us for a bit delay but we insist on quality. :)

Chineasy Special - Limited Edition of Chineasy: New Way to Read Chinese by ShaoLan

If you love the Chineasy methodoogy, here is our Special Limited Edition Chineasy: The New Way to Read Chinese in Golden Black. This gorgeous hardcover limited edition is wrapped with high-quality fabric and has the gilded Chinese character of "Tiger", illustrated by designer Noma Bar.

If you think Chineasy can help someone you know who's learning Chinese, we'd be happy that you share this Kickstarter exclusive with them!

Can’t wait to get Chineasy Tile?

We know…we know…that’s why we have those 2 mini ebooks ready for you to enjoy immediately! Click the image below to share Chineasy Tiles' Kickstarter Gold campaign with your friends, and you're able to download the ebooks right away!

Risks and challenges

It’s been an adventure seeing Chineasy Tiles through the process, from concept development to prototyping and testing. Our team is small, professional and committed to creating our product. Over the past year, we have carried out road-testing with language-learners and collaborated with institutions to ensure Chineasy Tiles fulfills rigorous educational values and a striking design aesthetic.

Just like many other projects, our biggest challenge is meeting the cost of manufacturing and shipping our product. Our team is based in Boston, London, and Taiwan, from where we can ensure smooth communication with manufacturing counterparts in China. We are exacting about design and production quality and committed to ensuring that Chineasy Tiles are delivered on time. Our Support team will send frequent status updates, including production and delivery information.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £7 or more
About US$ 9

Color Me Chineasy Coloring Book

Chinese language-learning is more fun in full color! You'll receive our specially designed 54-page coloring book in a PDF file with illustrated Chineasy characters. It also includes activity pages for 48 Chinese characters and how to write the strokes correctly.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £15 or more
About US$ 20

Personalized Chinese Name

You've always wanted a cool Chinese name, here's your chance! Chinese names are beautiful because they tell a story about who you are. We will help you create a fully customized Chinese name based on your desired meaning and pronunciation.

Your personalized Chinese name will be delivered digitally as a PDF along with the audio file so that you can learn how to say your name correctly!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £15 or more
About US$ 20

Chineasy Tiles Lite – SPEAK!

Chineasy Tiles Lite is our first SPEAKING EBOOK! This 100-page ebook contains original stories and fun learning activities about hundreds of characters and phrases you can learn from playing Chineasy Tiles. Designed to be the best companion book for Chineasy Tiles so that parents, teachers, and learners can play and learn Chinese together!

You can also use the ebook individually from the game! It includes read-aloud stories, Chineasy's unique illustrations, and fun activities to reinforce learning. Taste the magic of Chineasy in a brand new way with Chineasy Tiles Lite!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £20 or more
About US$ 26

We Love Chineasy STICKER SET

Get stuck on Chineasy! This set of stickers include 8 unique designs for you to proclaim your love for Chineasy and Chinese language-learning. Made of durable vinyl with protection from rain, sun, and scratches.

(VAT, tax, and shipping fee will be applied accordingly for different locations)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £32 or more
About US$ 42

Chineasy Iconic MAGNET SET

Our special magnet set includes the 8 iconic Chineasy building blocks. These 8 classic Chinese characters are the foundation to hundreds of compounds and phrases. These magnets are ideal for use on classroom boards, your fridge … where will you put yours?

(VAT, tax, and shipping fee will be applied accordingly for different locations)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £70 or more
About US$ 91

Chineasy Tiles COLOR COMBO

Kickstarter Exclusive! You will be the first to receive our award-winning Chineasy Tiles!

We want to make Chinese language-learning fun and innovative. This combo set will jumpstart your journey with our specially designed coloring book and one FREE month of Golden Chineasian - the premium membership to access exclusive content to Talk Chineasy, a podcast that teaches you useful Chinese every day and helps you improve your Chinese literacy.

(VAT, tax, and shipping fee will be applied accordingly for different locations)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £75 or more
About US$ 98

Chineasy Tiles INTRO COMBO

Kickstarter Exclusive! You'll be the first to receive our award-winning Chineasy Tiles!

In this combo set, we will help you create your personalized Chinese name so that you can introduce yourself in Chinese with style! You’ll also receive one FREE month of Golden Chineasian - the premium membership to access exclusive content to Talk Chineasy, a podcast that teaches you useful Chinese every day and helps you improve your Chinese literacy.

(VAT, tax, and shipping fee will be applied accordingly for different locations)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £135 or more
About US$ 176

Chineasy Tiles ULTIMATE KIT

Kickstarter Exclusive! This is the ULTIMATE COMBO SET for the full Chineasy Tiles experience.

If you can't decide which reward you'd like to pledge? This one has it all! You'll be the first to receive our award-winning Chineasy Tiles, along with our specially designed coloring book and a personalized Chinese name. You'll also get one FREE month of Golden Chineasian - the premium membership to access exclusive content to Talk Chineasy, a podcast that teaches you useful Chinese every day and helps you improve your Chinese literacy.

This combo set ALSO includes our Kickstarter limited Iconic Magnet set & We love Chineasy sticker set.

(VAT, tax, and shipping fee will be applied accordingly for different locations)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £250 or more
About US$ 326

Chineasy Tiles BUILDING KIT

Good things come in threes!

Order three sets of Chineasy Tiles to play with friends, to use in the classroom, or share as gifts! Spread the Chineasy world. With more Tiles, you can unleash your creativity and build even more ways to play and learn Chinese!

Along with Chineasy Tiles, you'll also receive one set of Chineasy's Iconic Magnet Set and We Love Chineasy Sticker Set. Have fun and learn Chinese the easy way!

(VAT, tax, and shipping fee will be applied accordingly for different locations)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £336 or more
About US$ 438

Chineasy Tiles GROUP Bundle

Order six sets of Chineasy Tiles with friends and families for future gifts, or for your classroom. You will receive it just in time for back-to-school season. This is the BEST we can offer and only limited for 150 early birds. Don’t miss out on this good deal!

Additionally, you’ll get the coloring books and 6 one-month FREE trial of Golden Chineasian - the premium membership to access exclusive content to Talk Chineasy, a podcast that teaches you useful Chinese every day.

(VAT, tax, and shipping fees will be applied accordingly to your billing address. We will collect the respective shipping addresses for your group at the end with the survey.)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge £1,000 or more
About US$ 1,303

Chineasy Special (LIMITED EDITION)

There are only FIVE of these unicorns in the world!

If you love the Chineasy methodology, this is a rare opportunity to get your hands on the Special Limited Edition Chineasy: The New Way to Read Chinese in Golden Black. This gorgeous hardcover limited edition is wrapped with high-quality fabric and has the gilded Chinese character for ‘Tiger’, illustrated by designer Noma Bar.

It's also exclusively signed by ShaoLan, founder, and creator of Chineasy!